covert_historywikiaorg-20200215-history
Rudolf Bamler
Rudolf Bamler (6 May 1896 in Osterburg (Altmark), Province of Saxony - 13 March 1972 in Groß Glienicke) was a German Wehrmacht leader before and during the Second World War. Although Bamler was a member of the Nazi PartyMichael Mueller, Geoffrey Brooks, Canaris: The Life and Death of Hitler's Spymaster, Naval Institute Press, 2007, p. 95 he would later serve as a leading member of the East German security forces. Abwehr Bamler was attached to the Abwehr as the head of section III (counterespionage) and here he helped to encourage closer co-operation with the Gestapo and Sicherheitsdienst (SD).George C. Browder, Foundations of the Nazi Police State: The Formation of Sipo and SD, University Press of Kentucky, 2004, p. 180 This role also meant that Bamler maintained a network of informers across German society rivalled only by that of the SD.Peter Padfield, Himmler, Cassell & Co, 2001, p. 215 Although he had a difficult personal relationship with his superior Wilhelm Canaris the two co-operated closely in supporting Canaris' friend Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War.John H. Waller, The Unseen War in Europe: Espionage and Conspiracy in the Second World War, I.B.Tauris, 1996, p. 16 World War Two Following the outbreak of the Second World War Bamler was appointed Chief of Staff of Wehrkreis VII (Munich) before a transfer to the same role in XX (Danzig).Samuel W. Mitcham, The German Defeat in the East, 1944-45, Stackpole Books, 2007, p. 39 Bamler was then made Chief of Staff to the XXXXVII Panzer Corps in 1940. From 1942 to 1944 he was Chief of Staff to the German Army in Norway under General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst, having risen to the rank of Lieutenant General.Hans Fredrik Dahl, Quisling: A Study in Treachery, Cambridge University Press, 1999, p. 343 Eastern Front Bamler was then moved to the Eastern Front and from 1 to 27 June he was commander of the 121st Infantry Division, before being replaced by Helmuth Prieß.Samuel W. Mitcham, German Order of Battle Volume One, Volume 3, Stackpole Books, 2007, p. 173 He was simultaneously commander of the 12th Infantry Division, with Gerhard Engel his replacement.Mitcham, German Order of Battle Volume One, Volume 3, p. 52 Bamler's commands ended as he had surrendered to the Red Army on 27 June 1944. However embittered by what he saw as the sacrifice of his division Bamler defected to the Soviet Union that had captured him. Later years Bamler settled in East Germany and worked as a Stasi police officer there from 1946 until his retirement in 1962. He also held the rank of Major General in the Kasernierte Volkspolizei.Walter Henry Nelson, Germany Rearmed, Simon and Schuster, 1972, p. 246 References Category:1896 births Category:1972 deaths Category:People from Osterburg (Altmark) Category:People from the Province of Saxony Category:Reichswehr personnel Category:Wehrmacht generals Category:National People's Army generals Category:German military personnel of World War I Category:German military personnel of World War II Category:German Nazi politicians Category:Socialist Unity Party of Germany politicians Category:National Committee for a Free Germany members Category:German defectors to the Soviet Union Category:Stasi officers Category:Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit de:Rudolf Bamler fr:Rudolf Bamler ru:Бамлер, Рудольф